1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system and a management method.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been proposed an image forming apparatus that stores configuration data in a storage unit. The configuration data is setting information (operation setting information) for switching the operation of the image forming apparatus. Since configuration data is stored in the storage unit provided in each of the image forming apparatuses, the setting changes in configuration data need to be made by the number of image forming apparatuses in order to change configuration data for all of the image forming apparatuses. For saving the time and required for changing the settings of configuration data by the number of image forming apparatuses, there has been proposed a technology in which the settings of configuration data for a plurality of image forming apparatuses are made at one time by a certain information processing apparatus.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-130838 discloses an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses, to which the initial setting operation has been performed, downloads initial system setting information from a server and reflects the downloaded initial system setting information to the initial setting content.
An information processing system is contemplated in which a management apparatus manages a plurality of image forming apparatuses via a network on tenant basis corresponding to a user (s) of the plurality of image forming apparatuses. Here, a user may wish to output a printout using an image forming apparatus in another tenant that is different from the tenant to which he/she belongs, such as a branch convenience store, a branch business office, or the like, instead of using an image forming apparatus in the tenant to which he/she belongs. In this case, an assumption is made such that the user may wish to use an image forming apparatus with the settings defined by his/her own company for reasons of increasing the security strength thereof.
However, the usage of configuration data across tenants has not conventionally been conceived. Thus, when a user uses an image forming apparatus in another tenant that is different from the tenant to which he/she belongs, the user himself/herself has conventionally been required to set configuration data of the image forming apparatus to be used, resulting in an inconvenience for the user.
In addition, for an administrator who operates the management apparatus so as to manage configuration data for an image forming apparatus, it is undesirable that a user who belongs to a tenant not managed by the management apparatus makes the setting changes of the image forming apparatus managed by the management apparatus.